Various designs for removable steps used to climb trees, telephone poles, etc., are known in the art, as well as complimentary tools for inserting and removing them.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,007 to Mahaffy discloses a device for insertion and removal of rod-type tree steps with vertically spaced apart horizontal sections. The device has a hollow portion that surrounds the vertical section of the step and a guide slot for threading a horizontal section of the tree step. The guide slot requires a bolt or another means of securing the device to the horizontal section. The device is secured onto the tree step by a bolt or screw, and the user cranks the tree step into (or out of) the tree using the leverage from the vertically disposed central section of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,625 to Katz discloses a tree step tool using a telescopic applicator, the inner sleeve of which is attached to the tree step. The outer sleeve consists of a long handle that may extend telescopically and a pin to lock the handle in position. The user then grips and turns the handle to remove or install the tree step.
Known tree step insertion and removal tools suffer from many disadvantages. Some tools are unnecessarily complicated in that they require additional mechanism(s) to secure the tree step to the tool itself before inserting or removing the step. Other tools include relatively-moving parts that may bind, slip out of alignment, etc. A tool is therefore needed that permits ease of step installation and removal without the drawbacks associated with known constructions.